EMPIRE PRESS UNION.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 19142, 7 October 1925, Page 14

EMPIRE PRESS UNION.

CONFERENCE IN MELBOURNE. A BRILLIANT ASSEMBLAGE. SEVERAL NOTABLE SPEECHES. [FKOM Orp. OWN CORRESPONDENT. ] SYDNEY, Oct. 2. One of the most brilliant assemblages of the Empire's sons that has ever gathered in Australia witnessed the longawaited opening of the Imperial Press Conference in Melbourne—the third and perhaps the most notable of its kind. There were delegates from the Mother Country, all parts of the Empire, all the Australian States, and New Zealand. At the opening ceremony the chairman of the Australian section of the Empire Press Union, Mr. J. 0. Fairfax, presided, and on the platform with him, among others, were the president of the union, Lord Burnham, the Governor-General of Australia, Lord Forster, the Governor of Victoria, the Earl of Stradbroke—two of the most popular Vice-regal representatives who have ever held office in this country —and the Prime Minister, Mr. S. M. Bruce. Mr. Fairfax invited Lord Forster to declare the conference open, paying a tribute to His Excellency's devoted service to the Empire and mentioning that in order to be present at the conference he had postponed a visit to New Zealand, considering that the conference was of sufficient Imperial importance and significance to adopt that course. The Governor-General, in his address, said that in the conference they had gentlemen who hailed from every quarter of the King's Dominions able tci speak with authority of their own homeland, able to look at us, and our problems from almost, if not quite, every different angle. The collective result of such a manyangled study and criticism could not fail to be of value to Australia and the rest of the Empire when invested with that world-wide publicity which the delegates, and only they, could give it. The Power of the Press. Mentioning that visitors to Australia sometimes wondered why the Commonwealth had adopted her White Australia policy, Lord Forster said that, after studying the statistics of her population and development, they went away convinced that Australia was wise in her generation and that she must put her shoulder to the wheel if she intended to maintain it. He went on to indicate Australia's needs for the future, summing up that the problem of development had become the problem of markets. Lord Forster added: "It is here that you can help us greatly, for I hope you are here to exchange information, to give it as well as receive it." "Help us all," he concluded, "by telling us the truth about each other, and do not be content to dwell in your news columns on the 'sordid and sensational, on droughts, divorces and difficulties. The power of the press is great. Use it, gentlemen, to the full in the creation and development of a full knowledge and clear understanding of what the Empire means throughout the Empire." » The Prime Minister made an important speech from Australia's point of view, dealing with her problems considered from an Imperial aspect, tracing developments in intra-Imperial relations and trade. The most important speech was that of Lord Burnham, who touched upon the earlier conferences and then traced the work of the Empire Press Union. Defining its objects, he said, "The Empire Press Union does not exist only for the holding of periodic conferences, and in that sense, unlike what is said of journalism—although I by no means agree to that description—-it is not ephemeral In this respect it is comparable to the League of Nations. It has both its permanent organisation and its general assembly and within its sphere of counsel and operation it is a British league of national newspapers. . . The broad lines of press policy are laid down in general assembly, the* measures for carrying it out have to be formulated, considered and applied in detail by the branches. Empire Press Union's Work, Lord Burnham said that the Empire Press Union had obtained proper and adequate recognition of the press of the oversea Dominions by those in authority in the Home Country. It had organised the press hospitality committee at the Empire Exhibition. It had accomplished much in the reduction oi cable rates, and in wireless telegraphy it was assisting at the installation of the "beam" system. "At a conference such as this," Lord Burnham concluded, "we can give light arid leading to the British world, and we can lay down principles of policy that may secure general acceptance, equal benefits and equal opportunities leading to' a common prosperity and continuous progress are surely the ideals of ouv British civilisation. "" Great marks are soonest hit, and great hopes make great nations. In that spirit of optimism, to turn our difficulties into opportunities, and not our opportunities irito difficulties, are we met together in the capital city of this magnificent Commonwealth."